


Hospital reunion

by SugdenLovesDingle



Series: Flufftober [24]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Bedside Vigils, Hopeful Ending, Hospitals, M/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:02:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27178948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: Flufftober day 24: terms of endearmentAlmost a year since they last saw each other, Aaron finds out Robert has been stabbed in prison
Relationships: Aaron Dingle/Robert Sugden
Series: Flufftober [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947490
Comments: 6
Kudos: 106





	Hospital reunion

Aaron had just stepped out of the house, on his way to the café to get his morning coffee and some peace and quiet, when he heard loud wailing coming from down the street. It took him a second to figure out where it was coming from, until he noticed Vic standing over Harry’s pram, waving some kind of teddy bear at him. Judging by the continued wailing, the little boy wasn’t impressed.

Aaron debated going over to see if he could help but figured one of the Posners would be along shortly to deal with things, and kept walking.

Only when he got closer, he noticed that Harry wasn’t the only one crying.

He felt bad. Even though he and Vic weren’t exactly close right now, she was one of his oldest friends, and they’d been through a lot together.

“Come on Harry, please stop crying.” Vic pleaded with her son.

“Hey you, are you giving your mummy a hard time today?” Aaron said to Harry, trying to distract him from his tantrum by tickling his tummy. It had always worked on Seb, but Harry was very different from his cousin and just started crying louder.

Aaron picked him up and gently bounced him up and down in his arms while making soothing noises at him.

“What’s going on with you two?” he asked Vic.

She shook her head.

“It’s nothing. It’s silly. I’ve just not been sleeping well lately… it’s almost been a year since…” she didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t need to, Aaron knew exactly what she meant.

“Yeah… I know. It hasn’t gotten any easier, has it?”

“No… and he still won’t let me visit. I wrote a letter and at least it wasn’t returned to sender… but he won’t see me.” Vic said, voice thick with frustration as she wiped the tears from her face

Aaron nodded. He’d tried to book a visit a few times after he’d received the letter in the summer, but to no avail.

“Do you want me to take this little guy off your hands for a couple of hours? I can take him for a walk and you can get some rest.”

“No, no I can’t ask you that.”

“You’re not asking, I’m offering.”

Harry had calmed down a bit and was only sniffling slightly against Aaron’s chest by now.

“If you’re sure you don’t mind…”

“Of course not. Harry and I will be fine, won’t we mate?” He asked the little boy. “We’re going to have a great time. Maybe we can go up to the farm to look at the pigs. Or we can go to the scrapyard and make fun of Vinny.”

“I suppose I could do with a few hours’ sleep…” Vic admitted. “Are you really sure?”

“Yeah, absolutely. Is all of his stuff in here?” Aaron nodded at the bag hanging from the pram handlebar.

“I uh… I’m not sure…I think so… I don’t really remember packing it.”

“No worries. If we’re missing anything we can always just borrow it from Seb or Isaac. They won’t mind.”

“Do you still have Seb’s things?”

“Of course. He’s going to need them when he’s coming to visit next weekend.” Aaron told her. “Rebecca is a lot easier to talk to without Ross in her ear. She’s agreed to let me see him. I’ve been up there a few times and I’m picking him up next Friday and he’ll stay the weekend. For his birthday.”

“I… I had no idea you were in touch again…”

“I haven’t told anyone. They probably won’t approve anyway… but that boy is mine too, whether Robert is around or not.”

Vic gave him a watery smile.

“I think Robert would approve if he knew.”

Aaron nodded and swallowed around the lump in his throat.

“Well we’re all set now, right Harry? Say bye, bye to mummy.” He grabbed the boy’s hand and made him wave to Vic.

She smiled and kissed his cheek before doing the same to Aaron for good measure.

“Thank you. I mean it. You’re a saint.”

“Just being a good friend. I haven’t been that in a while.”

Vic nodded.

“Yeah… same here.” She said and turned to Harry. “You be good for uncle Aaron, ok? Mummy will be back in a few hours to pick you up.”

Just as she turned to leave, her phone rang. She took it out of her bag and glanced at the screen.

“Problem?” Aaron asked when he saw the frown on her face.

“No… just… unknown number.”

“Probably telemarketers trying to get you to subscribe to something.”

“Hello?” Vic answered. “Yes this is she. Who am I speaking to please?”

Aaron decided to hang around for a moment in case she needed anything.

“Yes Robert Sugden is my brother. Is everything alright?”

Aaron’s heartrate spiked at the mention of Robert’s name. He tried to read the look on Vic’s face and get her attention to figure out what was going on.

“He what?! When? What happened? How could that have happened? Is he ok? How bad is it?”

She clasped her free hand over her mouth and Aaron could see new tears welling up in her eyes.

“Vic? What’s wrong?”

“In the event of his… yes… I understand… Is he?”

“Vic?!” Aaron hissed, desperate to know what was being said.

“Oh thank god. Can I come down?”

A pause.

“Manchester?”

Another pause.

“I… I don’t know if he has a will…”

Aaron nearly dropped Harry in shock.

“A will?!”

Vic either didn’t hear him or ignored him and was completely focused on the phone call.

“Yes. Absolutely. I will be there as soon as I can. Who do I ask for?”

Another pause.

“Alright. Thank you. You too. Goodbye.” She said and hung up.

“Vic… what’s going on? Has something happened to Robert? Is he ok?”

“He… he’s been stabbed.”

“He what?! How? When? Is he ok? Is he… alive?”

Vic nodded.

“He’s alive… but it’s bad. They think it happened a few days ago… but he wouldn’t tell them anything. He hid it and tried to patch it up himself with a towel and tape.”

“He what? The fucking idiot!” Aaron swore, startling Harry in his arms. “Sorry. You didn’t hear that, mate. Don’t repeat that ok?” he turned back to Vic. “So what’s the deal now? Can we see him? Do you want me to check when the first flight to the Isle of Wight is?”

“No… he’s not there anymore. They flew him to Manchester because he needed specialised surgery they couldn’t do there… and it’s policy to notify the family in the event of an inmate’s death of grave injury…”

Aaron swallowed thickly.

“Manchester. Ok. That’s not so far. Can we see him?”

“I think so. They’re expecting me…”

“I’m coming with.” Aaron decided. “We can drop this one off at the farm with Sam and Lydia.” He put Harry back in his pram. “And then we’re going to Manchester. I’ll drive. I need to see my husband.”

Neither of them really spoke during the drive to Manchester. Aaron dumped his car in the first open spot he saw in the hospital car park, not bothering to check if he was actually allowed to park there. A parking fine would go nicely with the speeding tickets he’d raked up on the drive from Emmerdale.

“Did they say anything about where to go?” Aaron asked as he and Vic rushed into the hospital.

“Uh yeah. They said to just ask for Robert. Everything should be in their computer system.”

Aaron nodded and walked up to the information desk, trying to keep his cool and not yell at anyone to take him to Robert right this instant.

“Hi, we’re here to see Robert Sugden. He was brought in this morning.”

“One second please.” The woman behind the desk replied as she checked the computer.

Aaron knew exactly when she’d found him because the expression on her face changed from happy and friendly, to shocked and concerned.

“Right. I’ll uh… have to call up and someone will be down to come get you. Just wait here, it’ll only take a minute.”

Aaron thanked her, resisting the urge to yell at her that Robert isn’t some criminal.

A few minutes later a nurse and an armed police officer came to get Robert Sugden’s family and took them upstairs.

“How is he?” Aaron asked the nurse as they got on the lift, doing his best to ignore the guy with the gun.

“He’s still in surgery. His condition was critical when he was brought in.”

“Right. Critical. What does that mean?”

“Is… is he dying?” Vic asked carefully.

“We’re doing everything we can. Our best people are working on him.” The nurse settled on and took them to a waiting area. “I’ll come update you when I have news.”

They sat down and Aaron noticed that besides the armed police officer, they were the only people on the floor.

“Did they really clear out this whole floor for Robert?!” he demanded and got up in the officer’s face. “He’s been stabbed! What do they think he’ll do?!”

“It’s just standard procedure. Please calm down and take a seat.”

“Come on, sit down.” Vic grabbed his arm and dragged him back to their seats. “You’re no use to him if you get yourself in trouble.” 

The more time passed, the more anxious Aaron got, and he started pacing. Much to the officer’s displeasure but he probably figured letting Aaron move around would be less of a hassle than trying to keep him in his seat.

Suddenly a door opened and the nurse from before came over to them. Neither Aaron or Vic really knew how much time had passed but Aaron was on his feet in an instant.

“And?!” he demanded.

“They’re just finishing up now. The surgery went as well as can be expected.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means…” the nurse started and then seemed to change her mind. “He got stabbed and it wasn’t pretty. He had multiple stab wounds to his abdomen and one deep one about here.” She pointed to an area on her side a little above her hip. “That was the reason he was brought here. Whatever they’d used had broken off in his body and done some damage to the veins and tissues there and nicked his kidney.”

“Ok. And now what?”

“They removed the part of the weapon that was used and managed to repair most of the damage.”

“Most?”

“Anything that needed fixing is fixed and the rest just needs to heal naturally. The main problem now is the risk of infection. The weapon obviously wasn’t exactly clean and the makeshift bandage he used wasn’t either. We’re going to put him on antibiotics and keep a close watch on him to make sure his wounds won’t get infected.”

“So he’s ok now?” Vic asked.

The nurse nodded.

“As ok as it gets right now.”

“Can we see him?”

“They’re still working on him now, but I’ll come get you when we’ve got him settled in a room.”

They thanked the nurse and sat back down.

“He’s ok.” Vic said, repeating the nurse’s words. “He’s ok. He’s not dying, he’s ok.”

Aaron only nodded, leg bouncing as he watched the door the nurse had disappeared through like a hawk.

About an hour later she came to get them.

“He’s still asleep but you can sit with him. He probably won’t be very coherent when he wakes up though, he’s on a lot of painkillers.”

“No change from his usual self then.” Aaron said, trying to lighten the mood with a poor attempt at a joke.

The nurse opened the door and let them in.

Victoria gasped next to him but all Aaron could see was Robert.

He’d lost weight and his hair was a little longer than it had been when he’d last seen him, almost a year ago. He was pale and he had deep dark circles under his eyes, an oxygen tube in his nose and all hooked up to all kinds of tubes and wires, but he was there, and he was alive.

Before he really realised what he was doing Aaron moved to the side of the bed and leaned over to press a kiss to Robert’s forehead.

“What did you do…” he brushed his hair from his face and slowly moved his hand down his face, over his shoulder and arm, down to his hand. He gave it a little squeeze and sat down. “You just can’t stay out of trouble can you?”

Vic sat down on the other side of the bed.

“He looks tired.” She carefully grabbed his other hand.

“Yeah. I guess prison isn’t the five star hotel people think it is, after all.”

They sat with him for a while until he began to stir.

“Rob? Robert? Can you hear me?”

Robert slowly opened his eyes and closed them again right away, scrunching up his face because the light hurt his eyes.

Aaron quickly turned off the lights in the room, the only light now coming from the opened blinds.

“It’s ok. The lights are off. You can open your eyes.” He squeezed his hand and waited for him to look at him.

Robert opened his eyes again and looked around the room, blinking a few times to try and get some focus. He noticed Vic first.

“Vic?” he mumbled and Victoria gasped and tears started spilling from her eyes

“I’m here.”

He frowned and then must’ve noticed someone else holding his other hand and turned his head to face Aaron.

His eyes lit up but he still seemed to be confused on what was going on.

“Aaron?”

“Hey stranger.” Aaron choked out. “Long time no see.” He kissed Robert’s knuckles.

“Am I dreaming?” he mumbled

“No. No, you’re awake. Very much so.” Aaron felt wetness on his own cheeks as he kept Robert’s knuckles pressed to his lips.

Robert frowned as he tried to take in his surroundings.

“Hospital?”

“Yeah. You’re in hospital. You got into some trouble. But you’re going to be ok.”

It wasn’t long before Robert fell back asleep.

“I should get back…” Vic said, trying to make herself get up. “Harry is still with Sam and Lydia… I can’t ask them to keep him overnight.”

Aaron nodded and dug his car keys from his pocket.

“I’m not leaving him. You can take the car.”

“Alright. I’ll be back tomorrow. Tell him that when he wakes up, ok?”

“Of course. Can you tell Liv and my mum? Or maybe just Liv… Or maybe just Cain.”

“I’ll tell someone.” She promised and kissed Robert’s forehead before moving to Aaron’s side of the bed and pulling him into a hug. “We have him back.”

The next few days went by in a blur. The hospital staff had started to take pity on Aaron and gotten him a bed of his own in Robert’s room and served him meals like he was a patient instead of making him go down to the cafeteria or vending machines.

Vic came by every day, but unfortunately that meant Luke came with her too while Wendy looked after Harry. Aaron had put his foot down and demanded Luke wait outside Robert’s room. He still hadn’t quite let go of his grudge against him and his family.

By day four, the doctors treating Robert had decided to start to lower the dose of sedatives, which meant he was more awake, and with a little help, able to sit up.

“How are you feeling?” Aaron asked, taking his seat by Robert’s bed again. He’d stepped out briefly to update Cain on the situation and checking up on his plan. He was going to appeal Robert’s sentence and he was going to win, whether Robert liked it or not.

“I don’t know…”

“Are you in pain? Do you want me to get someone to give you more painkillers?”

Robert shook his head.

“No it’s alright.” He played with the edge of his blanket. “Why are you here, Aaron?”

“Where else would I be? I love you, you idiot. I care about you. You’re my husband.”

“I’m not though, am I? Not anymore…” Robert said softly, eyes cast down to his lap. “The decree absolute came through a few weeks ago…”

“I know. Nice anniversary present that was.”

“I didn’t plan it like that, I swear.”

“I know.” Aaron assured him. “But we didn’t need a piece of paper before to be married, and we don’t need one now.”

“I can’t do that to you… I have 13 years left on my sentence. I can’t make you put your life on hold that long. You deserve better. Better than me…”

“Can I be the judge of that?” Aaron said, taking Robert’s hand. “I choose you, ok? Every time.”

“But how can you? What kind of life is it to live visit to visit? The six o’clock phone calls… I remember what it was like when you were inside. It was hell. And that was only six week. This is thirteen more years.”

“I don’t care.”

“But I do.” Robert pulled his hand away and looked like it physically pained him to do so. “I don’t want to be a burden. I want you to have the life you deserve. Meet someone, fall in love, share your life with them… forget about me.”

“Never.” Aaron vowed. “You are it for me. Have been for a long time in case you hadn’t noticed.” He joked.

Robert shook his head and wiped at his eyes.

“I can’t let you throw your life away for me.”

“Good thing I’m not then.”

“You should just go home.” Robert told him. “I’m still alive, I’ll be fine.”

Aaron got up from his chair and sat down on the bed next to Robert’s hip, careful not to mess with any of the wires or bump into his stitches.

“Listen, you’re it for me. You’re a nightmare, but you’re my nightmare. I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don’t want to meet someone else. I already met my soulmate. He faked a breakdown and kissed me five years ago on some layby off a country road.”

That got a small smile from Robert which Aaron counted as a win.

“But it’s thirteen more years, Aaron…”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve asked Cain’s solicitor to take a look at your case. She thinks there’s a good chance to get it reduced to GBH. The intent part is easily thrown out. And nowhere in any reports does it say Lee died as a direct result of what you did.”

“But… DS Wise…”

“Is dirty. He was working with DS Malone, another bad cop higher up the food chain than him. That Malone guy had an affair with Harriet apparently. Twice.” Aaron said and spent the next 15 minutes updating Robert on the village gossip.

“Wow… Mandy owns the salon and Tracy is pregnant? I’ve got a lot to catch up on when I get back.” Robert said and waited for Aaron to catch on to what he was saying.

“Wait, we’re doing this? We’re fighting this?”

“Yeah… I’m scared shitless that it won’t work… but… I’m willing to try.”

Aaron carefully leaned forward and kissed him.

“Good answer.”


End file.
